DESCRIPTION: (adapted from the application) The Autumn Immunology Conference (AIC) has been held annually since 1971. The 1998 meeting will be held November 20-22, 1998, at the Downtown Marriott Hotel, Chicago, IL. The meeting was founded with the intent of providing a forum for the exchange of research and ideas, particularly tailored to the needs of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The largest proportion of faculty, student, and fellow attendees are from the Midwest states, but the meeting is increasingly attracting more participants from other regions of the country. Many of these are from the laboratories of invited speakers and their colleagues who, having attended the meeting to present a plenary session talk, were impressed with its quality, and chose to attend and send their trainees in subsequent years. The attendance and submitted abstracts has steadily increased, with current attendance at approximately 400, with 150 abstracts presented. The format of the meeting includes three plenary sessions covering current areas of research focus in immunology. Distinguished scientist from throughout the USA speak about their own research at each session, with four speakers for each symposium. Interspersed between the plenary sessions are poster sessions and workshops, in which participants present brief talks on their research. Faculty from the Midwest chair these workshops, which are of special value in providing a forum for students and fellows to share their research, receive feedback, and gain expertise in presentation skills. Plenary session speakers are asked (and the majority agree) to attend the entire meeting; their attendance and participation in the workshops and poster sessions provides additional valuable feedback for trainees. The AIC is organized by the AIC Council, which is composed of faculty and industry scientists representing participating Midwest states and institutions. The full Council meets each year, and a subset of the Council, its Executive Committee, holds an additional meeting to plan specific meeting details. The AIC is a highly successful regional immunology meeting, and has a major impact on the established investigators, as well as the training of new investigators.